Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas lost her legal battle with World Aquatics (WA), with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling against her. The loss dispels hopes that she and other trans swimmers might compete in elite swimming competitions, particularly the Olympics.
“The CAS decision is deeply disappointing,” Thomas said through her attorney in a rare statement to the media. “Blanket bans preventing trans women from competing are discriminatory and deprive us of valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identities.”
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“The CAS decision should be seen as a call to action to all trans women athletes to continue to fight for our dignity and human rights,” she added.
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Last year, Thomas began an arbitration case against World Aquatics after they banned trans women who went through testosterone-based puberty, meaning that competitors would have to start transitioning at age 12 to qualify under the organization’s rules. Thomas and her lawyer, Carlos Sayao of the Toronto law firm Tyr, argued that these restrictions were “invalid and unlawful.”
“Ms. Thomas submits that the Challenged Provisions are invalid and unlawful as they discriminate against her… and that such discrimination cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective,” her lawyer said to the Los Angeles Blade.
However, her case was dismissed by CAS for lacking standing for such a case, as she has not registered with World Aquatics nor gone through the process to apply to be a swimmer for any elite events, or with any registration for a world record.
“The Panel therefore concludes that since the Athlete is not entitled to participate in ‘Elite Events’ within the meaning of USA Swimming Policy, let alone to compete in a WA Competition, which occurs upon registration with WA prior to a competition or upon setting a performance which leads to a request for registration as WA World Record, she is simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA Competitions.”
While Thomas had stated publicly she hoped to participate in the Olympics, this year she was not on the preliminary entry list for swimming trials.
World Aquatics welcomed the CAS’ decision, saying “We believe [it] is a major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport.”
Fifth-place athlete and anti-trans activist Riley Gaines celebrated this victory on X, misgendering Thomas and calling the decision “great news.”
She then demanded that the NCAA strip Thomas of all of her athletic honors in a subsequent post linking to the right-wing tabloid The New York Post.
Hudson Taylor, the founder of the LGBTQ+ sports organization Athlete Ally, said in a statement, “By dismissing Lia Thomas’ legal challenge against World Aquatics, the CAS has denied her fundamental right to access an effective remedy for acts that violate her human rights.”
“This is a sad day for sports and for anyone who believes that trans athletes should have the opportunity for their experiences of discrimination to be heard and adjudicated like everyone else,” the group added.
Schuyler Bailar, who was the first out trans athlete to compete on an NCAA Division I men’s team and is a friend of Thomas, said in an Instagram post, “This is not inclusion. This is textbook discrimination.”
“And it is a result of the vicious, disgusting, anti-trans and misogynistic rhetoric that has infected this country and the world. Rhetoric that is not based in science but rather in hatred, fueled by power hungry people who do not care truly about women or women’s sports,” Bailar continued. “I’m not sure what is next in this moment — but history will not look back favorably on this decision.”
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